If you read it correctly, that is close to a million dollars.

There are many people reading this article who are not aware that the decision they are taking now is the best. How many people reading this article just went to the first bank, building society or broker and asked for a home loan without knowing that the decision you make at this stage could prove to be the difference between paying out $916,000 and, say, $700,000?

In Victoria where the average home loan is $260,000 the figures are around $680,000 to pay out the loan and with the right advice you could reduce your total payments to around $370,000.

You have all seen the half baked guru's on television telling you that by paying just a little more you can save a lot. We are talking about paying less each month as well as making the savings we refer to above. That's a double whammy winner in any language.

By now you should be questioning whether you are going to boost your bank's profit margin or choose to reduce your own payments. This choice is yours to make if you are serious and get the correct advice and how to do it.

The biggest advantage to have come with the freeing up of the Australian home loan industry is that there are brokers out there who are prepared to tell you, and show you, everything the big banks would feel happier that you didn't know. We are pleased to have many of these brokers on our approved panel.

At this stage it is best that we make you aware that the type of loan we are discussing in this article will not be available, or suitable, for everybody. The good news is that if it is not for you right now it will almost certainly be for you in a few years when you have built equity in your property and a good broker is able to put you into a loan that will enable you to transfer to this type of loan without penalty at some later date.